Il Nuovo Postiglione - Jihadists kill 18 Nigerian troops including senior brigadier general

Violence is surging across the country's mostly Muslim north, with at least 90 people killed by gunmen in several remote villages, according to an AFP tally of tolls given by local, humanitarian and church sources.

Africa's most populous country has been fighting a jihadist insurgency for 17 years, since Boko Haram's 2009 uprising, which has seen the emergence of powerful splinter groups including Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

In an overnight attack, unidentified jihadists overran a military base and torched vehicles in Benisheikh, about 75 kilometres from Borno state capital Maiduguri, an intelligence source told AFP.

"Unfortunately, the brigade commander, Brigadier General O.O. Braimah, lost his life," Kaga Local Government Chairman Zannah Lawan Ajimi told AFP in a phone interview.

Two intelligence sources confirmed Braimah's death to AFP.

His death follows the killing of Brigadier General Musa Uba by ISWAP in November. He was the highest-ranking military official to die in the long-running conflict since 2021.

"They overran the brigade," one of the intelligence sources said, giving the death toll as "at least" 18.

The second intelligence source said that "the terrorists killed several troops" and "burnt vehicles and buildings before they withdrew," without giving a toll.

Nigeria's military said that "insurgents attempted to breach the defensive perimeter of the military installation" but were "decisively engaged and forced to retreat in disarray".

The statement, from Major General Michael Onoja, a Defence Headquarters spokesman, said that the attack "resulted in the loss of a few brave and gallant soldiers", without disclosing a toll or who was killed.

- Rising jihadist violence -

Researchers have warned of an uptick of violence since 2025.

Borno capital Maiduguri has seen two suicide bombings since December -- the type of bloody, urban attacks reminiscent of the insurgency's peak a decade ago.

On Wednesday, the US State Department said in a notice it was authorising "non-emergency US government employees" to leave Abuja "due to the deteriorating security situation".

While the insurgency is concentrated in the northeastern countryside, jihadists from Nigeria and the neighbouring Sahel have made inroads western Nigeria, where organised crime gangs known as "bandits" have been raiding villages and extorting farmers and artisanal miners for years.

The spate of attacks that have left 90 dead this week included an assault in Kebbi state that police blamed a local jihadist group known as Mahmuda, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Kebbi sits on Nigeria's border with Benin and Niger and since 2025 has been targeted by a rising number of jihadist attacks.

Conflict monitor ACLED says there has been a surge in violence in the area carried out by militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

In nearby Kwara state, in October, fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM claimed an attack after years of researchers warning that the jihadist conflict ravaging the Sahel risked spreading south towards coastal west African states.

In December, the United States, with Nigerian assistance, bombed northwest Sokoto state, targeting Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP) fighters usually found in neighbouring Niger, along with Mali and Burkina Faso.

M.Costa--INP